UPCOMING EVENTS

Another Silicon Valley company grabbing the headlines, this time not so good.

The New Scientist reports Internet censorship in Iran is among the most restrictive and sophisticated in the world. That’s because Iranian government employs extensive internet filtering to block out content deemed inappropriate, much of it developed by western companies, according to a study by Harvard and other universities.

So we were reading through the story, gritting our teeth, wondering whether a Silicon Valley company were responsible. Sure enough, the first — and only — company mentioned is Secure Computing, of good ol’ San Jose:

The researchers say Iran mainly employs a package called SmartFilter, developed by US company Secure Computing. However, Secure Computing told New Scientist that Iranï¿½s state-controlled ISPs are using the companyï¿½s software without permission. “Secure Computing has sold no licenses to any entity in Iran,” says spokesman David Burt. “We have been made aware of ISPs in Iran making illegal and unauthorised attempts to use of our software.ï¿½

Bizarre, though, don’t you think that a company which deals in security matters couldn’t control licenses through encryption, etc? What do we know? Maybe it really is hard to stop.

Anyway, we’re wondering if the company’s stock hasn’t gone anywhere over the years for a reason. Security companies are supposed to be hot, right?